Forever Fallen: Book One, Anak Trilogy

By Sherry Fortner

Annie Hayes is living a nightmare. Something dark and sinister stalks her. When a handsome new stranger shows an interest in her, Annie is torn between an instant attraction and a paralyzing fear that something is not quite right with this outsider. Nightmares become her reality as she is hunted by dark creatures. Annie is swept up into an ancient war as the Dark Ones pursue her and the Magnificent One protects her.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Aug 8, 2022
• ISBN: 9781638149217

Book preview

To my family—Ray, Denise, Jon, Lindsay, and Ian—for listening when I talked of my book for four long years.

To my daughter, Jennifer Harper, who actually lives in Dacula, for her help and design of the cover.

To my friend and the first person to read the entire manuscript, Beth Howard, for falling in love with my characters and book.

The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.

—Proverbs 18:10

Prologue

There is an ancient, mystical text that was written by Enoch, the seventh patriarch from Adam and the great-grandfather of Noah. Enoch tells of the angels who fell to earth. He tells their names, what secrets of heaven that they taught mankind, and of their offspring with human women, the Nephilim or the Anak. The Anak, or the race of the giants, were a particular bloodthirsty race. The Book of Enoch says that they angered the Archangels because they consumed all of man’s goods, and then began to kill men and drink their blood.

The Archangels went before the Holy One of heaven to ask that something be done about the Anak who were killing God’s creation. God tells the Archangels that he will turn the hearts of the Anak against one another so that they will kill each other off. This is where my story begins with the last of the Anak. It begins with the one who is unlike the others of his race.

1

First Encounter

I was only eighteen when my world irrevocably changed forever. That was when I discovered there was a world around us of which most people were not aware. That was then; now they know. It all began in that exanimate time that stretched endlessly between winter break and high school graduation. The time when I became conscious that there were dark beings in this world that wanted to destroy me.

The ball I was dribbling thudded against the sleek hardwood floor seeming to deepen my trancelike state. My heart seemed to slow down in order to join its rhythmical beat. My surroundings seemed to fade into blackness as a dreadful scene from my past slipped into my vision. My mother’s blank stare swirled around in the darkness. Her glazed, fixed eyes stared at me unseeing as the drumming of the ball pounded, pounded, pounded. The sound bounced around in my head until my pulse mimicked the beat.

Annie, are you ill? Kate asked. Then without waiting for my answer, she chattered on. You’ve been standing there dribbling that ball for five minutes looking at the goal but not shooting. What’s up? Dirty daydreams?

I stopped in mid-dribble, grabbing the ball and clutching it to my chest. Kate’s last remark jolted me back to the present—basketball practice. Coach Neely’s whistle screeched over the thudding of the basketballs, ending practice and my need to answer Kate. I sent a shrug of my shoulders in her general direction.

Coach Neely had been my basketball coach for four years, and I still had not decided whether I liked him or not. Tall, dark, and not very handsome, Coach was slim with slightly hunched shoulders and a perpetual haggard look on his face caused by the black circles around his eyes that began under his eyebrows and washed down his face to his cheekbones. Even darker than the circles, his black eyes gave his face a haunted appearance. He was not the kind of person you could warm up to. He never smiled, not once made a joke, or even laughed at any jokes the girls on the team ever made. His face never changed. His eyes were dull and lifeless. In his midforties, he had never married, and in the four years that I played basketball for him, he never dated as far as any of us knew. He was a loner, and the high school rumor mill swears he teaches high school just to coach basketball.

Coach, may Annie and I shoot from the foul line for a little longer? Pleaseee, Kate urged. If you let us, we’ll wear our shortest shorts to practice tomorrow, pleaded my totally insane best friend who winked at me behind Coach’s back. I knew Kate, and I knew she said that to Coach just for shock value, attempting to get him to break the impregnable mask that was his face.

Kate has been my best friend since first grade. Strangers often mistake us for sisters. She has the same straight long hair the color of the sun at midday and blue eyes as I do. She is just shorter and more voluptuous than I. Next to Kate, I am built more like a stick. Though we look similar, Kate has a drop-dead gorgeous cherub face. Kate swears that I have a celestial appearance too. She says my fine features give me an ethereal persona. I tell Kate she should ride the short bus because I am not the beauty that she thinks I am. She just loves me as a sister, and that love distorts her vision and her wits. I often wish we were sisters. I was only been five years old when my mother died in a car accident, and my distraught father never remarried. Kate is cocky and inappropriate most of the time, but I love her fiercely. Now, she just stands there popping her gum obnoxiously with her basketball resting on her jutting right hip staring at Coach.

Bite me, Kate, Coach replied, giving her a look so intense that anyone but Kate would spontaneously combust.

Not even… Kate paused for dramatic effect, glancing in my direction to let me know what was coming out of her mouth was going for the jugular, if I were a shark, flea, fire ant, vamp, or desperate, would I bite you, Kate shot back.

Is that the best you can do, Kate? You’re slipping. You forgot bedbugs, wild dogs, and going to detention hall tomorrow at lunch. We’ll see how that bites. Coach Neely smirked and began to walk away. He half turned back, glancing over his shoulder and spoke to me, ignoring the smoking look Kate was flashing him. Annie, I’ll lock up, but you can get out through the side door. Just make sure you have everything when you leave because the door will lock behind you when you go. Coach looked back at Kate and emphasized the word everything and gave a little grunt of amusement at the deadly look on her face.

He is such a pain in the… Kate began but stopped short, exhaled deeply her shoulder slumping, and turned to me. Do you mind staying for a while, Annie?

No, my free throws could use some work, I answered solemnly, still trying to shake off the morbid thoughts and oppressive feelings weighing me down. Not even the image of Kate and Coach sitting in detention hall glaring at one another during lunch tomorrow could lift my spirits. We both focused on our shooting. Kate and I took turns. She would shoot, and I would rebound for her. Then, I would shoot, and she would rebound.

Are you going with Jonny to Lauren’s party on Saturday? Kate asked, never taking her eyes from the basketball goal.

I guess I will. I hadn’t really given it much thought.

I knew she was hoping that I was going to the party but without my boyfriend, Jon. She really wasn’t a fan. She thought him a little overbearing at times. Jon and I had been hanging out, dating would be an overstatement of our relationship, since the summer between my sophomore and junior year. He is the quarterback of the high school football team, and most girls would give up their cell phone to date him. I basically saw him as more of a friend than a boyfriend. Jon was just a hang-out buddy. I didn’t have to go parties, dances, and games alone as long as Jon was around. I’m not sure what is wrong with me, but most boys seem to avoid me. It didn’t bother me, though. I didn’t want a boyfriend. I had things I wanted to do, and I didn’t need to get attached to anyone who might sway me from my future plans. Jon, however, definitely saw me as his girlfriend; therefore, no other boy ever dared to ask me out, which most of the time was fine with me.

Jon was definitely handsome in a jock kind of way. Muscular, tall, with dark hair and eyes, self-confidence oozing from every pore of his body, he was every girl’s dream. I liked him, but I didn’t love him. I thought of him in a more brotherly way, not very romantic. I enjoyed being around him, but that seemed to be it. If I did not see him for weeks, it would not bother me at all. Maybe I was just not normal. Maybe he was not my type. If Jon was not my type, what kind of boy would be my type? Jon seemed to be every other girl’s type. So what was wrong with me?

Once again, my thoughts seem to drift. Was it that I was not interested in Jon or any other boy because I knew something else was out there? But who or what was out there? My totally random thoughts were beginning to make me feel as though briefly, for a moment, perhaps I was going mad. My destiny whispered to me, and so did that something else. I did not understand all the confused, jumbled thoughts that tumbled through my mind and my soul. My heart almost ached for something or someone. But for what or whom did it ache? I am the girl of the hottest guy in school. For whom, was I searching? The whole problem is that I’m not looking for anyone. I am perfectly satisfied with the relationship Jon and I have as good friends. But yet something unknown was out there waiting for me—whispering our terminus a quo to me. I could feel it. I yearned for something, but what that something was, I had no clue. I believed I was being irrational, and no one else besides Jon and college was in my future. The basketball hit the rim with a dull thud. Quickly, I decided I should quit daydreaming and concentrate on my shooting.

Who are you going to the party with, Kate? I asked, trying to be polite and at the same time trying to get my mind off my depressing thoughts. Knowing Lauren, I am sure it will be a major event.

I think Austin will be the lucky guy this Saturday. Kate giggled, rolling her big blue eyes.

Kate dated someone different almost every weekend. She was the school flirt, but she was harmless. Although, I don’t think she would admit it, Kate, too, had an aversion to getting serious with just one person. She was outrageous, and the guys loved her. When Kate walked in a room, it was like she was on a movie set: lights, action, Kate. She drew the male population to her like moths are drawn to their deaths by a flame.

You’re such a tease, Kate.

I know, and it is so much fun. Kate laughed hysterically.

Time quickly passed, and we were both absorbed in shooting. The next thing I knew the gym felt like we were in a freezer, and it seemed as if the lights had dimmed.

Kate, is this gym suddenly freezing, or am I delusional?

You’re right. It’s really cold—colder than I was last Saturday with Jeremy. She stopped in mid-dribble and looked at me wide-eyed. What? she said in response to my shocked expression. He had stanky breath. She giggled.

Shaking my head and sighing, I looked at the clock on the wall. It was after eight o’clock.

This is just great, Kate, I drawled out sarcastically. It’s eight o’clock, and I need to study for a biology test tomorrow.

Sorry, Annie, I guess we lost track of time. I can’t believe that I went right past dinner and didn’t notice.

I shivered. Whether I shivered from the cold or from the eeriness of Kate forgetting food for a whole three hours, I wasn’t sure. I glanced at Kate, and she had her head tilted as if listening for something.

Let’s get out of here, I whispered. Kate and I walked toward the locker room, bouncing the basketballs as we walked. The hollow, dead thuds they gave in the empty gym threatened to pull me back into the darkness and the black horror of visions that I had experienced earlier during practice.

Has Jonny asked you to go steady? Kate pried as we walked toward the gym dressing rooms.

No, I’ve warned him about that when we first started dating. I told him if he started getting serious our relationship was over. So far, he hasn’t dared to pop that question, but we have been going out for over a year. I can tell he wants to get more serious.

Kate stopped suddenly, looking down a dark hallway that entered the corridor to the gym. She continued to dribble the ball in place as she listened to me. Then leaning forward, she peered into the blackness of the hall.

Annie, I saw a huge, dark something move in the shadows just now, Kate whispered.

I looked into the darkness. I took a step forward into the dark hallway. Even though I couldn’t see anything, I could feel something. Something evil glared back at us, or at least that was the feeling I had. I glanced at Kate, and her face was ashen. I looked back into the dark void, and Kate grabbed my arm. I squealed and jumped in fright from her unexpected touch. The basketball I had been dribbling hit the toe of my shoe and bounced into the dark hallway where the blackness swallowed it up.

Don’t go after it, Annie. I have a bad feeling about this, Kate whispered, grabbing my arm and pulling me back.

I hesitated, moving my head side to side peering into the darkness.

I have to get that ball, I whispered to Kate. Coach will kill us.

It’s not Coach killing us that I’m worried about, Kate whispered back, hanging doggedly on to my arm.

Why are we whispering? I said aloud. My voice cracked and echoed back at me sounding weak and broken. Wait here. I’m going to get that ball. Even as I said that, the ball rolled slowly back into the light stopping at my feet. Kate squealed a high-pitched sound right in my ear.

Who did that? Kate yelled.

It probably just hit a wall and rolled back to us, I told Kate in a trembling voice. I said it, yet I didn’t even believe my words. Someone rolled that ball directly back to me. It stopped right at the end of my sneakers. Stepping back, I scooped up the basketball and pulled her into the light of the locker room.

It’s probably just the night janitor, but I’ve seen too many gory movies about silly girls in an empty school building being stalked by a killer not to be a little uneasy. Let’s just get our stuff and go. Kate must have been just as uneasy as I was because for once she didn’t comment, but she hurried to the other end of the locker room in silence and began to gather her clothes, which were strewn all over the bench.

I stuffed the basketball in the carrier that Coach left in the locker room. Kate tossed me hers and turned back to continue stuffing her clothes in her gym bag. I put her ball in the carrier then crossed to the bench and scooped my clothes and sandals from the bench and crammed them in my bag with my biology book. We didn’t even bother to change back into our street shoes. Together, we hurried out of the locker room and crossed the gym floor.

Was it this cold in here earlier?

Not even close, Kate answered, shivering. The gym had cooled down some since practice, but it was positively frigid now. We were both shaking uncontrollably, but whether our shaking was from the temperature or from fright, I wasn’t sure.

Wait a minute, Kate, I murmured and moved to the double set of glass doors that were chained together and secured with a lock. I scoured the parking lot for anyone lurking around our cars. Kate’s car was in a pool of light from the streetlight next to her vehicle, but still it looked eerie, surreal even. It looks okay out there. Let’s go.

We crossed the lobby to the side door.

Get out your keys, I instructed Kate while I dug around in my bag for mine.

We’ll walk to your car. It’s the closest, and it’s parked under a streetlight. My car is parked in the back overflow lot. You can drive me around to it.

Sounds good, Kate whispered her blue eyes wide as she looked furtively out the side door with me.

The view of the parking lot wasn’t as good from the side door, but I surveyed the parking lot again before pushing open the door. The cold, fresh air collided with my face and bare legs as it pushed its way inside. The walk to Kate’s older model Chevy Blazer was uneventful but still creepy. Kate stopped once halfway to the car, cocking her head to the side listening again. Then, without a word, she began walking briskly toward her car.

How did we let it get to be so late? My dad is probably dialing the police as we speak, I squeaked, trying to fill the silence with chatter while throwing my dead cell phone back in my bag.

Kate pushed the button on her key chain, unlocking the doors to her vehicle, and we both climbed in.

I was running late this morning. The only parking was in the back lot.

No problem, Kate replied, cramming the key in her ignition. Her Blazer started without hesitation. She sat up straight in the driver’s seat and slowly turned facing me. Annie, what happened back in the gym was so strange. Stranger than Coach even.

Ah, we probably just watch too many horror movies, I growled.

Yeah, but it’s fun being scared when you’re crawled up on the sofa at home with a big bowl of popcorn. It’s not so much fun when you’re in an empty school building alone. Kate laughed, her voice trembling.

"You weren’t